OPTIONS, OPTIONS: Chicago-based derivatives marketplace CME Group has announced that it will offer options on its bitcoin futures contracts starting in the first quarter of next year. CME hopes to provide clients with “additional tools for precision hedging and trading,” though it needs to win regulatory approval first. The company has offered crypto futures trading since December 2017. Full story AVOIDING THE ISSUE: Ripple has filed motion to dismiss a lawsuit claiming it violated U.S. securities laws by selling XRP. In a new filing Friday, attorneys for Ripple pushed back against XRP purchasers suing the company, its subsidiaries and executives, claiming that the plaintiff, Bradley Sostack, does not have standing to file a complaint. Notably absent from the motion to dismiss is a full-fledged argument over why Ripple believes XRP is not a security. Indeed, the filing only addresses the question in a footnote, which states that XRP is not a security “because it is not an ‘investment contract.'” Full story
OVERSTOCK DUMP: Patrick Byrne, the former CEO of Overstock who resigned abruptly in August, has sold his 13 percent stake in the e-commerce company he founded 20 years ago. In a blog post Thursday, Byrne said that, by the end of the week, he will have reinvested all of the proceeds into “investments that are counter-cyclical to the economy. … Gold, silver and two flavors of crypto.” In an attack on his perceived enemies in government, he added: “The other thing accomplished by the investment moves I described above is that my ammunition gets moved outside acts of retaliation from the Deep State.” Full story ‘CRYPTO’ TROLL: A famous gaming brand bested crypto-Twitter Thursday, trolling the space with misleading instructions to go all-in on cryptocurrency. The Electronic Arts account tweeted “invest in Crypto,” seemingly unprompted. The tweet had over 10,000 favorites and 4,000 retweets, and many Twitter users suggested the account had been hacked. However, the tweet was actually a marketing stunt aimed at introducing a new character, “Crypto,” in its game, Apex Legends Season 3: Meltdown! Full story COINBASE COINS: Coinbase will (possibly) add 17 new cryptocurrencies to its current line up, it said in a blog post. The exchange is considering celo, chia, coda, dfinity, filecoin, handshake, kadena, mobilecoin, NEAR, nervos, oasis, orchid, polkadot, solana, spacemesh, and telegram. Some of those coins, including telegram, are not yet live. Full story | 